Various Artists
Album: BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2015
Label: Proper
Tracks: 27 (2CD)
Website: http://proper-records.co.uk/

I can't think of any better way of introducing someone who spouts that proverbial old chestnut "Isn't folk music old people with fingers stuck in ears?" than giving them the entire back catalogue of the Folk Awards CD's. Once again released through Proper Records this is the 12th compilation CD set of nearly all the nominees in the 17th annual BBC Radio Two Folk Awards. The 23 tracks from the main nominees and the four tracks from the nominees for the Young Folk Awards 2015 cover the entire diversity of folk music from traditional to contemporary and from bluegrass to rock played on every kind of acoustic and electric instruments including the human voice. Is this the best of folk in 2015 - probably not, as this final cut is down to the discretion of a secretive Panel and don't forget we're only a few months into this year; quite a few of the songs been around since early 2014, but it does give a great introduction into the wide horizon which is the British Folk scene.

Talking of the Panel, how the artists and tracks are chosen has caused much debate on social media and Emma Cave's 'the glamour cave' (Emma Cave http://theglamourcave.blogspot.co.uk) gives an excellent insight to the inner workings of the decision making process of the 2014 Awards. For those not bothered to do any digging here is a brief rundown on the process. 'Best Original Song', 'Best Traditional Track', 'the Lifetime Achievement Award', 'Good Tradition Award', 'Hall Of Fame' and the Young Folk Award are awarded by specialist panels; 'Best Album' is a public vote, and all other Folk Awards nominees are chosen by a voting panel which is made up of approximately 190 people who vote individually and the act with the most votes win each category. The panel include broadcasters, festival organisers, venue bookers, journalists, agents, record producers, promoters and record company directors. The Specialist Panels include senior staff from Smooth Operations who produce 'The Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe', staff from the BBC and other specialists which may include folk musicians and journalists. To play devil's advocate, is it a case of "who you know" and "who you are connected with" amid further accusations that panellists with vested interests gain financially? This may account for certain acts being nominated year on year, and for me, the fact that Donovan received the Lifetime Achievement Award and his subsequent pompous performance in 2011.

Right, rant over, down to the album itself.

If you are looking to buy this album as an introduction for each artist or a taster for each album a lot of the tracks apart from ones from the Young Folk Awards nominees have already been covered by other Fatea album reviewers. The full track list is:-

Disc One
Cara Dillon - Moorlough Mary
Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker - It Would Not Be a Rose
The Will Pound Band - Jimmy Ward's
Jez Lowe - The Pitmen Poets
Cruinn - Manus Mo Ruin
Nancy Kerr - Never Ever Lay Them Down
Maz O'Connor - London Lights
Chris While & Julie Matthews - Dancing Under the Gallows
Loudon Wainwright III - God & Nature
The Furrow Collective - Handsome Molly
9bach - Pa Le
Peggy Seeger - Swim to the Star
The Young'uns - John Hill

Disc Two
Martin Carthy & Eliza Carthy - Waking Dreams (Awake, Awake)
Naomi Bedford - The Spider and the Wolf (Feat. Jackie Oates)
Greg Russell & Ciaran Algar - The Cockfight
Sam Sweeney & Rob Harbron - Rose Howard
Ange Hardy - The Raising and the Letting Go
O'Hooley & Tidow - Two Mothers
Kathryn Tickell & The Side - The Prior's Standard
Stick in the Wheel - Bedlam
Martin Green - I Saw the Dead (Feat. Becky Unthank)
Julie Fowlis - Do Chalum
Talisk - Charlie/Waterfall
Wildwood Kin - The Valley (Live)
Cup O'Joe - Pretty Fair Maid in Her Garden (Live)

The album does seem to flow from track to track and that is down to the skill of Jon Lewis from Smooth Operations. For me the outstanding tracks are the haunting and emotive 'Manus Mo Rùin' from Cruinn featuring the distinct lead vocals of Fiona Mackenzie and what to these ears appears to be a background of Tibetan throat singing; the modernist approach of 9bach with the traditional song ' Pa Le' (Which Place?), an atmospheric and evocative fusion of the Welsh folk tradition and contemporary influences and the raw authentic sound of Stick In the Wheel's 'Bedlam' based on Thomas d'Urley's early 17th century verse Tom O'Bedlam.

What is the most exciting part of the album for me is listening to the contributions of the nominees for the Young Folk Award. Like in previous years, it's a very mixed bag of styles, from the Scottish tradition of Talisk, the vocal harmonies of Wildwood Kin, the country tinged soloist Roseanne Reid and the bluegrass of Cup O'Joe. It will be interesting to see if these four acts will reach the heights of recent previous nominees Greg Russell & Ciaran Algar, Luke Jackson and The Mischa Macpherson Trio.

Two glaring omissions are tracks from joint Lifetime Achievement winner Yusuf/Cat Stevens and those well acquainted nominees Bellowhead who would have given the album some extra dynamism. There are also one or two tracks I find turgid, but for an album that delivers 27 tracks, I can live with that.

Chris Light